DEMERARA RUMS Part Two

I`m on a demerara rum journey.

One of my aims in this life is to try as many demerara rums i can find, but so far i haven`t been able to try that many. Not all from the El Dorado range are yet tasted for instance, and on my list is also Nation demerara 12 and 31. But the Lemon Hart 151 i`ve had of course, and Banks XM 10 and 12 year old Millenium, they are all wonderful, especially the XM 10 which has an extra caramel yumminess to it. I`m really happy the XM rums are now going to be sold in the US.

But there are also many other very interesting demerara rums, most often private labels, and often shipped to Scotland for aging. These demeraras are in the higher price range and depending on where you live, they can be hard to find. It was my friend Paul from London who first told me about these wonderful rums.

At that time the Silver Seal brand ( an Italian company better known for their frequently stunning and highly collectable whisky bottlings.) was only as far as i could see, available from Pedrelli in Italy who does not ship internationally.

Silver Seal – 92 bottle.

So it was not until Roberto added Silver Seal to his R2Mshop that i could lay my hands on a Silver Seal bottle which really are beautifully shaped bottles with stunning labels.

I bought the 15 year old Silver Seal -92 demerara (110 proof) and the first thing i did after tasting it neat was to make a Mai Tai. And then i too was blown away..and made Mai Tais during 2 weeks until the pricey bottle was finished.Really, this rum is a sipping rum but who can resist making perfect Mai Tais?

It must be something special with this rum, well, it is as the Mai Tais really becomes very very tasty.

Now i`m a lucky owner to a new bottle of that wonderful rum plus 2 others that i hadn`t tried before. Uitvlugt 1990 full proof (132 proof) from Velier and Port Royal (92 proof, selected and bottled for Sarzi Amadé , Milano, Italy). These are all heavy and strong demeraras.

I didn´t think about how strong the Uitvlugt was until i took a good sip and was punched back right in the face. These 3 rums are very flavorful, strong and tasty.

To start with from the first 3 rums i got – Port Royal which comes in a very attractive bottle, its a bit sweeter and a bit lighter than the other two, but it does have a heavy demerara flavor and is quite woody, and it also has a strong kick. The taste stays long with you as well. Its not in the same class as the 15yo Silver Seal rum and the Uitvlugt from Velier – far from it – but its perfectly both sippable and mixable. This rum is aged for 14 years.

This selection comes from a 1991 alembic distillation (distilled using a copper still) and is aged in small barrels until the bottling in sept 2004. Only 370 bottles were made. The nose and the flavor is that of a deep demerara and its a heavy rum but not as fully and complete tasting as Silver Seal-92 (or El Dorado 15).

The next to taste, the Silver Seal 15 year also has this deep demarara flavor, deeper and rounder and fuller than Port Royal and it packs a punch as well. Its the only demerara rum from the Silver Seal range i`ve yet tasted. Unfortunately the 28 year old (120 proof and said to have extremely aromatic, round flavor, is most likely no longer available.

The four sides of the Silver Seal box showing the wildlife series.

But there`s a few others (Enmore 1975 – 32 yo, 136 proof – 60 bottles made, (i`ve heard its a bit overaged and tastes too strong of wood. What turns me off is the exceptionally high price of this one) Enmore 1996, Enmore 1988, (20 year old, 92 proof) Some of these i hope to try as well.

This – 92 Silver Seal is excellent to sip and wonderful to mix, what more can i say?

And so the third, Uitvlugt full proof, old demerara rum (132 proof) from Velier, an italian private bottler owned by Luca Gargano, a legend in the rum world. 4 barrels distilled in double pot still in december 1990 and aged 17 years in continental weather. Marks on the barrels, MPM. Bottled in march 2008, – 881 bottles were produced. Its this one that kicked me unawares. It has a deep woody demerara flavor and packs a real punch.

Good to sip, float and mix with even though it is not a mixing rum…..not really…one must mind what one mixes if one mixes…don`t let this wonderful rum get lost by a whole phletora of mixers but simple drinks is ok I think, as long as they are rum forward. The nose is amazing, strong, with a slight medical hint to it due to the strong proof.

Uitvlugt is the name of the famous distillery of Dutch origin situated west of the river, on the Atlantic coast in Guyana. Using the famous Port Morant still, (the barrels are marked MPM ) the last vat still in the demerara area distilling fullbodied and intense rums.

I´m not a rum reviewer and dont know so good how to put flavors in words so this is as good as I can describe these rums, rums with great body and intesity. Totally demerara rum heaven.

When leaning the glass on the side and then back up again, the rum forms legs on the side of the glass. Light-bodied rums will have thin “legs” that move quickly, while medium and full-bodied rums will have thick “legs” moving slowly, one of the ways you can evaluate the body of a rum.

In part two (to be posted in about 4 days) i`m going to write about Banks XM, OVD – Old Vatted Demerara and Samaroli Port Morant 1990.

Any rum that is refered to as Demerara rum must be distilled in Guyana in the county of Demerara.

DEMERARA BOMB WHITE ZOMBIE

This recipe is based on Robert Burr`s (Gifted rums guide) White zombie. The original recipe is:

Shake and strain..pour into a yummy glass and throw in a fragrant mexican cinnamon stick.

You may sub the demeraras in the recipe with El Dorado 12, 15 and/or Lemon Hart 151.

From this version of the White Zombie i made a drink for the TDN which was themed float, (every cocktail had to have a float) which i called “Demerara Bomb #2″ and it happened to win that TDN. So to not forget from where the inspiration to that cocktail came from, it was all originated in the White Zombie by Rob V. Burr – named for the first zombie movie ever made — White Zombie

Shake hard and fast with ice and strain.
Top with a little sugarcane cola and float overproof dark demerara rum
Fill up with more crushed ice if needed.
Garnish baby pineapple.

THE HONEY CREAM MIX:

The unfamous honey-cream -mix, with its problem of butter solids separation, there are different ways to try to solve it, i do like this:

Warm the honey, sugar, butter to very warm, then let it cool a little but stay above room temp and dry shake first (without ice) and then add ice and shake real hard and fast and hope for the best. And serve in a tiki mug and not a glass.

I’m a recent discoverer of the world of rums so I’m still a demerara virgin, but I’m very interested in trying them out, especially the El Dorado 15 year which seems legendary. I just love the bird pics on the Silver Seal, so beautiful I wouldn’t mind owning a bottle with each label just for the artwork, but that would be a bit expensive. Do you still get the wildlife label when ordering from r2mshop? Do you think the Silver Seal is worth buying over a El Dorado 15 year which is like half the price of the SS?
Also, as a fellow Swede, the easiest and cheapest way to get the El Dorado seems to be to order through Systembolaget? And where do you get your Banks XM 10 from?

Great post T! I’m just starting to get in to demeraras myself. There is a hotel bar here, Artesian, that has a couple of custom bottlings of rum – one being a 1990 Port Morant demerara. It really is delicious, lots of chocolate and toffee. The bartender mentioned they were aged here in Britain – I wonder if they are related to Silver Seal at all? If/when you make it over here I’ll have to take you.

What recipe do you use for your Mai Tai? I’m no tiki expert, and have seen so many possible recipes for the Mai Tai I often wonder where to start…

Jay, just google Trader Vic´s Mai Tai…and i agree these demeraras are deliscious! the one you had is one of those that are purchased in bulk from DDL and then aged in England or Scotland and then bottled at various, the Silver Seal is one, private bottling.

Hi, yes its the wildlife labelon this Silver Seal rum. If you are new to rums i suggest strongly that you start trying El Dorado 15, that way you will taste how a real good demerara rum tastes, its the best in the world. Second, you dont need to spend so much money on something that really belongs to the cathegory of collectors.Try a few other dem rums first, and other rums as well.

The XM10 is a rum i can recommend you try, its top class dem rum and its not that expensive either. You can find it from 2 sellers on the German EBay site.

A little demerara update from me: I bought the XM10 and a mini bottle of El Dorado 15, along with a El Dorado 3 year old cask white. I loved the XM10 and El Dorado 3yo which I strongly recommend to everyone, and disliked the El Dorado 15 because of its wine taste. I’ve recently ordered a El Dorado 5 Year, and a Wood’s 100 which I’m very excited to try out.

That was interesting, congrats to your great rum shopping! where did you buy your El Dorado 3 year white and the Woods? from the UK? i haven`t bought anything for a long while now but i want to try those two rums whenever i get a chance.What did they cost you?

I just don`t get this though..how you get the El D15 to have wine-taste? it got to be the barrel taste you refer to as wine, actually its distilled in very old wooden stills but to me its the best rum in the world!

Agave syrup is readily available in Sweden! you can find it for instance in Daglivs/Klippet at Fridhemsplan,subway exit StEriksgatan and dont go up, its just to the right when you come out from the train. In the shop, take to the right, pass the milk section and turn right, its beside the eggs where the sugars are. And there you will also find Billlington`s whole assortment of sugars and their molasses,plus the wonderful Oxfam fine raw sugar which is wonderful in caipirinhas and mojitos.

if you want to buy it for about half the price, its at Konsum.I found it in Skarpnack but surely it got to be in other Konsum shops as well.

Damn I just deleted the whole post just as I was almost done.. oh well..
I bought them at whiskyexchange.com, the wood’s costs £22.49 and the ED 3yo costs £17.99. They also had Gosling’s Black Seal 151 proof and Sangster’s Pimento Dram which I just had to try, along with some Coco Lopez cans and some other stuff. I went crazy lol. The pimento dram was a surprise, I thought they stopped manufacturing, and it’s 30% alcohol too. Now I don’t have to make my own dram with all the waiting time etc.
The El Dorado 15 has a very distinct fruity nose and taste and a strange aftertaste I didn’t like, but then again I’m not really into sipping much. My favorite sipper is probably the Grande Reserve Plantation Barbados, which I also like to use in my walnut marzipan. I will probably be using the Wood’s as a weaker Lemon Hart 151 substitute mostly, I will be sure to let you know how it is, although I can’t compare it to the Lemon Hart because it’s impossible to find.
They also had agave syrup which I was actually looking for, because I assume it’s not available in Sweden?

I got the bottles today, I thought that the Wood’s tasted very close to the 109 proof Pusser’s, maybe with a slight touch more demerara. Both rums are called Navy rum on the bottle so I suppose that explains why they taste similar. The Wood’s is darker in color but that’s about it. If you have the Pusser’s I wouldn’t bother with the Wood’s. The Wood’s is probably slightly cheaper though.